Wednesday, November 23, 2016

One fascinating nonverbal sign is the phenomenon of exaggerated mouth and lip movement. There are few examples more demonstrative of this body language principle than those which regularly are seen on the face of President-Elect of the United States. What follows is a partial body language analysis of Donald Trump's recent statement on his transition and his policy of his first 100 days.

When a person uses exaggerated mouth and lip movements they feel that they are THE DOMINANT person in their current (real-time) interaction group. They view themselves as THE ALPHA - and everyone else is beta. When it's a conversation between that person and one other - the group is only two. When a person is being televised or with an anticipated high-volume internet audience - the group is of course many times larger.

If Donald Trump truly wishes to build rapport and gain influence with those people who may be "giving him a chance" to lead - he should dramatically reduce his exaggerated lip and mouth movement. Maintaining such amplified speaking dynamics will repel the majority of people (all but those whom already agree with him).

Question: What else serves to amplify this nonverbal mouth-lip hyperbole?

Answer: The relative lack of movement of the rest of his face - particularly his forehead (Mr. President-Elect, stop getting Botox treatments on most of your forehead. It makes you less expressive and inhibits your ability to feel empathy - or elicit similar feelings in others). When such an important part of one's face is effectively paralyzed, it helps to contribute to over-action of the lips and mouth.

Moreover, the camera should have been adjusted to a wider angle allowing Mr. Trumps entire upper body - including his arms and hands to be visible. The more we see of a person, the more we tend to like and trust them. If we only see a person's face - this rapport is much more difficult. Indeed, he would do well to consider giving a good share of any of his Oval Office speeches from a standing position (with a thin, minimal lectern). This would tend to project strength, decisiveness and assertiveness - while sitting behind a desk (particularly with no hands or arms visible) projects tentativeness, defensiveness and a lower confidence level.

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This website serves as a reference source for the art and science of Body Language/Nonverbal Communication. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the author. In an effort to be both practical and academic, many examples from/of varied cultures, politicians, professional athletes, legal cases, public figures, etc., are cited in order to teach and illustrate both the interpretation of others’ body language as well as the projection of one’s own nonverbal skills in many different contexts – not to advance any political, religious or other agenda.

This website serves as a reference source for the art and science of Body Language/Nonverbal Communication. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the author. In an effort to be both practical and academic, many examples from/of varied cultures, politicians, professional athletes, legal cases, public figures, etc., are cited in order to teach and illustrate both the interpretation of others’ body language as well as the projection of one’s own nonverbal skills in many different contexts – not to advance any political, religious or other agenda.